


Tesla Black

by SailingPianoMadness



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-31
Updated: 2015-08-04
Packaged: 2018-04-12 05:37:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4467377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailingPianoMadness/pseuds/SailingPianoMadness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A lot has happened to me over the last decade and I thought I'd put it all behind me...I was wrong. One fight with the family has sent me spiraling back into the arms of Hydra, unwillingly, of course. I'm relying on those I pushed away to find me and bring me home. After what I've done, do I deserve to be saved? Most of all, my twin sister is reeking havoc on the city with Hydra, spreading fear throughout. We have to stop them before their plan comes to fruition and they kill everyone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Where am I?

Home.

What am I doing?

Fighting...losing.

At this moment, I'm watching everything I'd fought for and against, go to pieces. After being on the run for two years you would think that I would notice my unlocked door, but I didn't see it; I had been trapped inside of my own head the whole 6 mile walk home in the spitting rain.

A kick in the stomach sent me sprawling to the floor on my back. It was already hard to focus with my more-than-likely-a-concussion headache that was brought on by the first hit with a butt of a gun to the back of my head. Sitting up, I managed to roll to the left before the man reached down to grab me with his bear-like hands. I stood quickly and kicked him in the back of the knee, forcing him to kneel, I quickly brought my knee up to his nose; it made a sickening crunch as blood spewed from his face. Thick arms wrapped around my waist, lifting me from the ground and throwing me into my favorite book shelf, destroying it.

I curled up, pulling myself to my knees, gasping for air that wouldn't come as the second man put his bot on my back and pushed me to the floor as I gasped in air through the pain of my broken rib.

"You're done!" he shouted, out of breath.

"Go to hell!" blood flew from my mouth and soaked the tips of my hair that was thrown in front of my face as I spit the words at him.

He gripped my hair and raised me up to his chest, "Oh, how I wish that we had more time to play," he pulled something from his back pocket, shook it out and cupped it over my mouth, "but we've places to be and I have a large paycheck to collect for bringing you in." I could feel the smile on his lips from his mouth being pressed to my ear. I held my breath and fought him, clawing and scratching at anything I could get a hold of. I heard him grunt as I pulled hard on the pinkie of the hand that was clamped over my nose and mouth. He let go with the hand on my hair and punched me hard in the kidney, forcing me to cry out...losing all of my air. I took a gasp in causing me to feel dizzy. I stomped hard down on his foot as a last ditch effort. To my surprise, his grip loosened and I dove forward, freeing myself.

"You stupid little girl!" he said through gritted teeth. Apparently, there was something wrong with his foot, his Achilles heel as it were.

My head spun as if it were thrown into a dryer. When I looked up, he was already on the move towards me. He didn't need to cover very much distance to get to me. I swiftly dodge his punch, putting his fist straight into the wall where my head had just been. I ran straight for my room, slamming the door behind me and locking it. It might keep him out for only a second but that is all I need. I had a huge armoire just to the right of the door so I whipped to the opposite side of it and pushed as hard as I could, knocking it over in front other door just before the big brute tried barreling through the door. I heard a second set of foot stomps tell me that the second man was back on his feet.

I stumbled towards the window on the opposite side of the room. Tearing it open, I flung myself out, grateful that I was renting a one story instead of the two story-landing hard on the small bush below. I felt thorns scrape deep into my arm as I wiggled free. I ran as hard as one can when they have a concussion and chloroform in their system.

"Help! Please!" I ran two doors down and banged as hard as I could while screaming. My side felt red hot where I'm pretty sure I have a broken rib. Cradling it, I booked it back out into the street when I saw the two men run from my front door towards me.

"HEEEEELP! PLEASE SOMEONE! CALL THE POLICE!" As if on cue I heard sirens somewhere in the distance. I nearly started sobbing but couldn't allow myself to slow down so I pushed my body to run faster. Each step didn't feel fast enough. My breath came in and out as wheezes instead of actual air. My lungs fought me as hard as they could to make me stop for a second and catch my breath. Blue and red flared up in front of me with screaming sirens. I frantically wave my arms at the cop. I slowed myself to a stop in the middle of the street and bent over to my knees, my ribs screaming at me. Then I noticed the cop wasn't slowing down as he neared me.

I ran the opposite direction again, towards those guys. I could feel the heat of the car as it pulled close to my heels. One thrust of the engine and I rolled over the top. I felt my back scrape open on the blaringly bright sirens. The contact with the pavement made me black out for a second before I registered being picked up and thrown on to something soft.

They got me. Again. After all of the horror that happened at the hospital and then finding a home and then losing it again because I was too stupid to realize that staying with the people who called me family was my best shot at regaining the part of me that was taken by Hydra. Gone. All of it.

A/N: Ok, don't hate too much please! I have had this thought in my head for quite some time and I know that it has potential to turn out nicely, I would like some honest feedback... constructive criticism if you would. This is just a test chapter at the moment to see what ya'll think and if I should keep going. This will have most if not all of the characters in it later...if I keep going. Let me know what you think in the comments! Much love, SPM.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't remember any of the car ride. My vision was black and all I felt was the searing, red-hot pain that coursed through my veins. I managed to keep myself mostly conscious, enough that I could hear the cops in the front seat talking.  
"All I know is, I had better be getting paid double for catching her alive." said the driver.  
"And having to wash her damn blood off the car." the second retorted. The driver sounded younger than the passenger.  
I shifted slightly to try and look back to see out of the window, trying to catch a glimpse of anything to tell me where I was or where they were taking me. A sharp pain in my side forced a hiss from my lips despite my best efforts at holding it back.  
"She's awake, Don. Should we pull over to handcuff her?" the driver asked.  
"Yeah, pull right here."   
I felt the car tug to the right just before slowing to a stop. This would be my only chance to escape. The two cops both slid from their seats, turning on the overhead light. My eyes burned for a moment when I opened them, watching the cop that headed towards the door my feet were pointed to. I heard that door open.   
"You know, it's a real shame," the passenger cop grabbed my right ankle and dragged me towards him, forcefully, "she's kind of cute. Minus the blood and bruises and stuff."  
"She's ok. I'm not really one for brunettes, though." said the younger cop. They hauled me out and slammed me into the side of the car, next to the open door. Sliding me along the car, my face landed roughly on the trunk, causing a strong headache to make its way through my brain.   
The older cop pinned my arms behind my back and kicked my foot out, forcing me to spread my legs, "At least take me to dinner first." I snapped. I was weak but audible. My throat was scratchy and sore from screaming all night.   
"Ha! First words all night and I get sarcasm."   
"You'd better watch yourself, girlie, a smart mouth will get you in all kinds of trouble." The younger cop smirked at me.   
"Why? What are you going to do? Assault me? Only half-assed, cowards need to handcuff a one hundred pound girl who they are just going to toss behind a cage anyway." That set him off.  
"What did you say to me?" He stormed over and pushed the older guy off of me. He grabbed my shoulders and flipped me around to face him, slamming my back into the car, again. I gritted my teeth as I was violently reminded of the gash back there.  
"Blake!" The older cop brushed off the dirt from his pants; apparently he had fallen.   
"What did you say to me, you little shi-" before he finished his sentence, I slammed my knee as hard as I could into his groin, causing him to cry out and pitch forward. Shoving him off, I made a break for it. My feet pound into the ground at an angry speed as I push myself one more time. Ahead of me is nothing. Dirt. Flat dirt.   
"Dammit Blake!" I hear the older cop tear after me. Apparently, the "freeway" we were on was just a two-way road and desert. My body screamed as I kept running towards emptiness. I didn't notice the hole in the ground before my shoe caught and I collapsed into a heap in the dirt. My body is physically done. My broken rib and sprained knee won't let me get up again so I stayed there. The dirt was a cooler temperature then the air around me and it calmed me. I stared at the stars, taking them in one last time, their twinkling beauty was tantalizing. How I wish I could live up there, in the nothing simplicity that is space. If there's one thing I want right now, it's to be in the stars forever.   
I felt the older cop slam into me, straddling me into place, "Don't you dare move or I will break more of your ribs, you hear me?" he panted. The second cop, Blake, jogged up next to us. Once he stopped, he bent over, placing his hand on his knees and groaning.   
My breath was coming in breathy whimpers, "Please...please don't take me back. They will kill me." It was my last desperate attempt at escape: sympathy.  
"Do you have any idea how much we are getting paid for this shit?" The older cop said. I let out a quiet whimper as it set in: I'm done for, there is literally nothing left for me. I'm going to be shoved back into one of those cold, lifeless rooms and die in there. I had destroyed any weak bridges I'd built with Tony. Cap, I was never really sure he liked me at all because of my sister. Nat and Clint were also very cautious of everything I did but they eventually warmed up and at least acted like they liked me. Banner might actually be the only one who truly had any positive feelings towards me. Thor was also weary of me, at first, but Loki seemed to enjoy me from the beginning...a little too much. I know that none of them would be able to find me. If they are sending me back to the hospital, I'm entirely off the grid and doomed to die there. If not, I may have a slim chance that the Avengers won't write me off and abandon me to my fate.   
Doubtful. I had messed up. I had lied and they found out. They looked at me with the same expressions they wore when discussing my sister. Disgust. So I had left out of anger and hurt. I assumed that they hadn't cared at all and that I would forever be on my own. Doing that always made it easier to cut ties and leave everything behind. But this time, it had really hurt me. I've never felt so at home with anyone then when I would sit with them and eat microwave dinners over the stove before getting back to work. I had a real family for once and it was unlike anything I've ever had before. Why did I leave like that? I shouldn't have gone back to my apartment, I should have apologized and kept my good thing going. I acted like a child.   
After the two cops each hit me a few times, handcuffed me and threw me back into the back seat, I passed out. I let the darkness take me to my dreams.  
000  
It's been a week since I was thrown back into the hospital. Off the grid once more. The doctors had stitched me up and mended my broken body as best they could before their impatience took over and they started their tests again yesterday. I wasn't sure where they'd taken me this time given that I'd blown up their last major hospital.   
Ever since yesterday morning, when they'd started poking me with needles and running tests and scans, my head has not stopped pounding. Of course, it was like this the last time they had experimented on me before literally everyone died. And as much as I would love to get into the story of how I took out a major part of Hydra's testing facilities, I am far too exhausted and sore. Maybe one day I'll tell the world of my miraculous escapes and adventures, but today is not that day.   
The bed is made of rocks and straw, while the sheets and blankets are made of sand paper. The combination of the two is what is causing some of my headache currently. I don't know what I was thinking when I had hoped for a rescue, that would most likely never happen. I managed to piss off the only people on this entire planet who could help me.   
I heard the door beep and then click open to see my nurse standing there. He walked towards me slowly, another needle in hand. I closed my eyes and waited for the prick and then the heat that would tell me that he had injected me with drugs once more. The warmth spread from the spot on my upper arm where he pressed the needle all the way throughout my entire body. It's always relaxing for about five minutes just before it turns ice cold and chills me to the bone.   
"Time to go for your final test, Tes." the nurse-I never learned his name- unlocked the wheels of the bed and rolled me out into the hallway. The slight breeze from the movement rolled up the sleeves of my hospital robe they had me in. Said breeze kicked started the cold sensation, beginning in the center of my chest, exploding outwards.   
Then it hit me... final test?   
I looked up towards the man, "what do you mean final test?" my teeth began to chatter.  
"It's your last day here. You'll be able to graduate and become the advanced Hydra agent they both need and want you to be." he smiled.  
"What?! No, this isn't something I'm doing willingly! No! They can't just turn someone into Hydra!" I tried to lift myself out of the bed but my body felt so heavy, like every part of me was turned into metal, rendering me unable to move.   
"Calm down, everything will be fine. You will feel so much better after your testing is done." I felt the bed jerk as he forced a pair of double doors open.   
"No." I whispered as tears slipped from the corners of my eyes, realizing my fate. I was going to become a mindless nub. I let out a quiet sob when the nurse rolled me up to a metal table with a rubber matt on top of it. I hadn't even noticed that we had turned into this room.   
Cold air brushed my already frozen, heavy legs as they tossed back the blankets. Three more nurses approach, all at the corners of my bed. They hoisted me up my shoulders and legs and transferred me to the metal table that I assumed would be my death bed. The table didn't feel cold, surprisingly-probably because I'm already freezing.  
"Nurse, please hand me the bite." A lady with platinum blonde hair handed the doctor behind me a black mouth guard, he approached me, staring down, eyes squinting with a smile behind his mask, "I know that you do not want this to happen, I also know that you managed to figure out how to keep yourself alive using your chip and our archives after your first heroic escape from the main facility. Now, you won't have to worry about that anymore. You're going to be given electro-shock therapy in order to trigger and activate the second part of your implant. This implant, which we gave you when you first arrived here a week ago, is going to keep you from dying basically," I started to cry uncontrollably, "Should you die, theoretically, this implant will trigger and restart your heart. There is no guarantee that it will work, however, and if your brain or heart are damaged, you will die. It will also counter those little parts in your first implant that were killing you initially to do its actual job and, you know, not kill you."  
"Theoretically?" I choked.  
"It's never been tested out before now. You're the first with this technology." he smiled again.   
"This-this is wrong and not possible!" I shouted. he took that moment to shove the bite into my mouth, stopping any further cries of protest. I hadn't even noticed that the other nurses had managed to strap down my arms and legs to the table. The blond nurse reached over and brought a rubber strap down across my forehead, tightening it, making it impossible to move any further.   
"Tongs, please." he watched him move to stand at the top of my head, holding his hand up for the "tongs". The nurse handed him two metal rods about a foot long each, with some sort of fabric balls on the ends of them, "I'm sure you must know a little something about modern day shock therapy, how it's just to cause a minor seizure and muscle relaxers are used with general anesthetic so on and so forth. This is not your case. It's a different wave, if you will, of electricity. You will feel all of it coursing through your body, it will be painful unlike normal shock treatments. You need this in order to jump start your new hardware."  
Adrenaline shot through me immediately. I spat the mouth piece out and let out a shrill cry mixed with anger and fear. If this was going to happen, I wasn't going to make it easy. I pulled against the straps as much as my drugged body could manage.  
"Chin strap her please." he ordered. They did so. I fought them, screaming the entire time as one of the nurses helped the doctor forced my jaw to clench down on the piece and eventually strapped me there.   
"Sir, an unauthorized entry was made at the A-B entrance." One of the nurses said, looking away from a computer in the far corner. A glimmer of hope filled my adrenalized heart.   
"Call up front then," he looked at everyone else, "we may be out of time, let's do this now."   
"Yes, sir." the blond answered.   
"Clear for treatment." all of the other nurses backed away and waited, "five seconds, first shock."  
First shock?! He pressed the tips of fabric against my temples. It felt like fire had suddenly consumed my body, I had no control as my vision went black and red-hot pain ignited across every part of my body. When he removed the source of the shock from my temples, I knew I was seizing. I couldn't feel or hear anything. I watched as images of Ezra filled my mind. How I missed my sister-the way she used to be. Ezra is gone now, she no longer plays a part in my life- as long as I can help it- the visions left me feeling hurt and sad. I was finally able to keep myself from clenching any of my muscles anymore once my seizure stopped. I didn't realize that I would be able to register a seizure like that; my body ached from the strain.  
Opening my eyes, I saw a face, not the doctor's but of my friend...Bucky. Was he real? Could he be? Why is he here?   
"Tesla, open your eyes. I need you to focus so we can get you out of here." He unhooked my chin strap and began to free the rest of my body from the table. The world felt like it was moving in slow motion as I slowly tried to force my brain to wake up.  
Confusion formed on my features as I began to adjust to my surroundings. As he turned to begin unstrapping my legs, the blond nurse sat up from the floor with a gun pointed at Bucky. I froze with immediate fear of losing Bucky again. I thought about throwing myself down on top of her but I can barely open my eyes let alone move. He didn't hesitate as he kicked it from her hands and then kicked her square in the nose. She fell back to the floor unconscious.   
I tried to sit up but the medications still prevented me from moving with any kind of ease. Suddenly, a bullet ricochets off of Bucky's metal arm, hitting a light and caused it to flicker and spark rapidly. The shot had come from beneath the table, near my head. I turned to look down into the face of the doctor. He now held the electric prods again in each of his hands. I tried to roll bock to get away from what I knew was going to happen but I was too slow. He pressed them firmly into my temples only for a second before all of the lights shot out and my mind went dark.   
I'm floating. The shock was so painful, my mind shut off and now I feel like I'm floating through nothing, completely weightless. It was pleasant, quiet. Staying here would be ideal but the logical part of me told me no,I have things to do some time soon, despite the fact that I just wanted to sleep forever.   
I was abruptly shaking. Where did this come from? It was so quiet, now there are loud noises everywhere and screaming.   
I cracked my eyes open to see Bucky, and the ceiling...the ceiling is moving at an incredible pace.  
"I got her!"  
"We need to leave, now, before there are more!"   
Who are these people who are talking? Where am I? The ceiling was suddenly no longer the dull color and florescent lights of the hospital, it's now an open lobby with large windows and a large glass looking staircase that we passed under.  
"Oh, Tesla, what did they do to you?" I shifted my head slightly to see red and gold staring me in the face.   
"Cap, here comes more!" Red eyes. Metal wings?  
"Hawkeye! Jet, now!" a woman's voice called.  
"Give her to me, I can get her out of here right now."   
I'm shifting again, this time onto cold hard metal, again.   
"P-please..." I mumbled, unable to form words. My head has never hurt so badly that I think I may be crying, I can't really tell.   
I was pulled tighter against the red and gold metal.  
"We are almost home, I promise. Close your eyes for a minute."   
I blacked out.  
000  
She's a lump, a limp pile of human in the bed. A large tube protruding from her lips while a mess of other cords and machines surrounded and peeped at her.  
"How's she doing?" Barton stood in the doorway, casually leaning against the frame.  
"She should be dead." Tony answered numbly, "That last shock damaged her brain, badly, it looks like." He picked up her hand again and began stroking her palm with his thumb.   
"You should go get some rest. It's my turn to watch her." Clint stepped forward into the room.   
"Her fingertips are burned. They burned her with electricity." Tony watched as Clint pulled up a chair and sat at the foot of her bed.  
"Tony, it's not your fault she left. Everyone was heated and things got out of control."  
"I'm her father. I should have tried to listen. I shouldn't have assumed." tears sprung into his eyes despite his attempt to fight them back.   
Clint sighed, "Please go rest on the couch, I'll watch her." He placed a hand on Tony's shoulder and gently pushed, urging him to move. Tony did so, dragging his feet across the room, slowly exiting. A few moments later Clint turned back to the sound of something sliding across the floor and found that Tony was pushing a couch into the room. Plopping down onto it, he turned and faced her bed, falling asleep shortly after.   
It was a light sleep, or so he thought. Tony woke to Banner sitting in the chair now, clipboard in hand.   
"How goes it?" Tony sat up and stretched a little.  
"Nothing. No good or bad progress. She's just stuck in this limbo seems like."  
"Why?" Bucky's voice chimed in before Tony could ask. Tony looked over to him: black t-shirt, hair pulled back into a pony tail. He didn't even look like he just fought 100+ men the day before. Tony on the other hand wore a wrinkled ACDC shirt and torn jeans. He hadn't eaten or showered since they got her back to the tower and in the "hospital".   
"On the x-rays, it looks like brain damage, but not normal damage you'd see from a shock victim. I can't pin-point anything useful without talking to her to test her motor functions. As you can see, that's not possible right now."   
"I called in a neurologist last night, he'll be here tomorrow." Tony said quietly to Bruce.   
Bucky nodded before he stepped up and took the open chair closest to her.  
"We need to find Ezra as soon as possible. Maybe she will know exactly what they did to her." Bucky leaned forward and let his hand graze the top of Tes'.   
"You want to go and find the one person responsible all of this? Ezra literally sold her sister to Hydra." Tony frowned, knowing that metal boy is right. They needed her to tell them what she could about Tesla's current predicament.   
"She's not going to make it." Bucky stated as a pang shot through his heart. He felt pure anger at the thought of seeing Ezra again, but they needed her.  
Tony was up in a second, in front of Bucky gripping his collar, Tony pulled their faces close, "Don't you fucking dare say that. She will make it. She will live because my blood runs threw her veins and I'm the most thick headed, stubborn person out there which means she is too. Bucky's eyes leveled and hardened as he stared into Tony's infuriated brown orbs, "if you're ready to give up, then you can get the hell out and I will stay here." Tony released his shirt and stormed back to the couch, sitting on the arm of it angrily.   
"Everything ok, gentlemen?" Nat stood in the doorway, a curious look on her face. She gave Bucky a side glance before looking at Tony questioningly.   
"Everything is fine." Tony answered coldly. Natasha quirked a brow before fully entering and standing next to Bucky, looking down at Tesla.   
"Tony, you need to eat." she suddenly turned to face him.  
"I'm fine." he answered quickly.  
"I was told by Pepper that is you didn't come willingly to get some food, then I had the right to use any force deemed necessary." She folded her arms and gave a smile, slightly cocking her head.   
Tony rolled his eyes and stood, knowing he wouldn't be able to fight the red-head off as tired as he is. Tony left, finding his way to the kitchen and eventually everyone else. Cap, and Banner sat up and gave questioning looks first.  
"The neurologist is on his way, should be here within the hour." Tony turned away from them to investigate the fridge.  
"That's not what we are asking. How is she?" Cap stood and approached the bar parallel the fridge.   
"There's nothing, all of her scans have blurs that make it impossible to tell what's what." Tony said as he placed a frozen breakfast bowl in the microwave. Everything was silent for a moment making the hum of the microwave the only thing filling the silence.  
Back in the room, Bucky sat close to Tesla, his head pressed into her shoulder. He had switched to the other side of the bed so that he could rest his right hand on her forehead, softly gliding his thumb over the healing skin. He screamed at himself internally for letting this happen to her. He had made her a promise a long time ago to keep her out of harms way and now look at her. A mess in the bed that can't even breathe on her own.   
I need you to wake up. I need you to be ok, please, Tesla.  
She inhaled sharply, suddenly, her eyes flew open.   
"Tesla!" Bucky stood and placed his hands on the sides of her face, trying to calm her frantic breathing. She raised her arms and gripped the tube sticking out of her mouth, tugging and pulling it free before Bucky could stop her. She coughed and sputtered while trying to sit up.   
"Buck-Buck..." She trailed off as her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Bucky caught the back of her head as she went limp again.  
"JARVIS, get help in here, now!" a small drip of blood began to slip from her nose. He body began jerking angrily in his arms.   
Tony's bowl clattered to the floor when JARVIS alerted him to his daughter's awakening, He whipped into the room just as she gasped a choked sob against Bucky's chest.  
"Shhh, Tesla, it's ok. You're going to be fine." Bucky whispered into her ear.  
"Lay her down," Tony ordered. Bucky did so as Banner ran up.  
"She's seizing. There's nothing we can do for a seizure here. Tony, we need to get her to a hospital." Banner made eye contact with Tony. Then she stopped moving...and breathing.   
"Tesla." Tony grabbed her face and turned her to him. Her left eye was entirely blood shot and her nose mouth and chin now had a thorough coating of blood. Her eyes were staring at something unseen while her chest lowered once more before the continuous beep told them all of their greatest fears. Her body had given into the pain and struggle and now was completely relaxed. Tony's quiet sobs were the only other noise besides the machines whose alarms still sounded.   
They had to fight Tony to get him away from Tesla and into a different room in order to calm him.   
The world had ended, after all of the fights won and lives saved, none of it seemed to matter. She was such a big part of their lives and now she's dead. A cold lifeless piece of meat that lay bloodied in the bed. However, none of them knew the havoc that would ensue shortly.


	3. Chapter 2

I don't remember any of the car ride. My vision was black and all I felt was the seering, red-hot pain that coursed through my veins. I managed to keep myself mostly conscious, enough that I could hear the cops in the front seat talking.  
"All I know is, I had better be getting paid double for catching her alive." said the driver.  
"And having to wash her damn blood off the car." the second retorted. The driver sounded younger than the passenger.  
I shifted slightly to try and look back to see out of the window, trying to catch a glimpse of anything to tell me where I was or where they were taking me. A sharp pain in my side forced a hiss from my lips despite my best efforts at holding it back.  
"She's awake, Don. Should we pull over to handcuff her?" the driver asked.  
"Yeah, pull right here."   
I felt the car tug to the right just before slowing to a stop. This would be my only chance to escape. The two cops both slid from their seats, turning on the overhead light. My eyes burned for a moment when I opened them, watching the cop that headed towards the door my feet were pointed to. I heard that door open.   
"You know, it's a real shame," the passenger cop grabbed my right ankle and dragged me towards him, forcefully, "she's kind of cute. Minus the blood and bruises and stuff."  
"She's ok. I'm not really one for brunettes, though." said the younger cop. They hauled me out and slammed me into the side of the car, next to the open door. Sliding me along the car, my face landed roughly on the trunk, causing a strong headache to make its way through my brain.   
The older cop pinned my arms behind my back and kicked my foot out, forcing me to spread my legs, "At least take me to dinner first." I snapped. I was weak but audible. My throat was scratchy and sore from screaming all night.   
"Ha! First words all night and I get sarcasm."   
"You'd better watch yourself, girlie, a smart mouth will get you in all kinds of trouble." The younger cop smirked at me.   
"Why? What are you going to do? Assault me? Only half-assed, cowards need to handcuff a one hundred pound girl who they are just going to toss behind a cage anyway." That set him off.  
"What did you say to me?" He stormed over and pushed the older guy off of me. He grabbed my shoulders and flipped me around to face him, slamming my back into the car, again. I gritted my teeth as I was violently reminded of the gash back there.  
"Blake!" The older cop brushed off the dirt from his pants; appreantly he had fallen.   
"What did you say to me, you little shi-" before he finished his sentence, I slammed my knee as hard as I could into his groin, causing him to cry out and pitch forward. Shoving him off, I made a break for it. My feet pound into the ground at an angry speed as I push myself one more time. Ahead of me is nothing. Dirt. Flat dirt.   
"Dammit Blake!" I hear the older cop tear after me. Apparently, the "freeway" we were on was just a two-way road and desert. My body screamed as I kept running towards emptiness. I didn't notice the hole in the ground before my shoe caught and I collapsed into a heap in the dirt. My body is physically done. My broken rib and sprained knee won't let me get up again so I stayed there. The dirt was a cooler temperature then the air around me and it calmed me. I stared at the stars, taking them in one last time, their twinkling beauty was tantilizing. How I wish I could live up there, in the nothing simplicity that is space. If there's one thing I want right now, it's to be in the stars forever.   
I felt the older cop slam into me, straddling me into place, "Don't you dare move or I will break more of your ribs, you hear me?" he panted. The second cop, Blake, jogged up next to us. Once he stopped, he bent over, placing his hand on his knees and groaning.   
My breath was coming in breathy whimpers, "Please...please don't take me back. They will kill me." It was my last desperate attmept at escape: sympathy.  
"Do you have any idea how much we are getting paid for this shit?" The older cop said. I let out a quiet whimper as it set in: I'm done for, there is literally nothing left for me. I'm going to be shoved back into one of those cold, lifeless rooms and die in there. I had destroyed any weak bridges I'd built with Tony. Cap, I was never really sure he liked me at all because of my sister. Nat and Clint were also very cautious of everything I did but they eventually warmed up and at least acted like they liked me. Banner might actually be the only one who truly had any positive feelings towards me. Thor was also weary of me, at first, but Loki seemed to enjoy me from the beginning...a little too much. I know that none of them would be able to find me. If they are sending me back to the hospital, I'm entirely off the grid and doomed to die there. If not, I may have a slim chance that the Avengers won't write me off and abandon me to my fate.   
Doubtful. I had messed up. I had lied and they found out. They looked at me with the same expressions they wore when discussing my sister. Disgust. So I had left out of anger and hurt. I assumed that they hadn't cared at all and that I would forever be on my own. Doing that always made it easier to cut ties and leave everything behind. But this time, it had really hurt me. I've never felt so at home with anyone then when I would sit with them and eat microwave dinners over the stove before getting back to work. I had a real family for once and it was unlike anything I've ever had before. Why did I leave like that? I shouldn't have gone back to my apartment, I should have apologized and kept my good thing going. I acted like a child.   
After the two cops each hit me a few times,handcuffed me and threw me back into the back seat, I passed out. I let the darkness take me to my dreams.  
000  
It's been a week since I was thrown back into the hospital. Off the grid once more. The doctors had stitched me up and mended my broken body as best they could before their impatience took over and they started their tests again yesterday. I wasn't sure where they'd taken me this time given that I'd blown up their last major hospital.   
Ever since yesterday morning, when they'd started poking me with needles and running tests and scans, my head has not stopped pounding. Of course, it was like this the last time they had experimented on me before literally everyone died. And as much as I would love to get into the story of how I took out a major part of Hydra's testing facilities, I am far too exhausted and sore. Maybe one day I'll tell the world of my miraculous escapes and adventures, but today is not that day.   
The bed is made of rocks and straw, while the sheets and blankets are made of sand paper. The combination of the two is what is causing some of my headache currently. I don't know what I was thinking when I had hoped for a rescue, that would most likely never happen. I managed to piss off the only people on this entire planet who could help me.   
I heard the door beep and then click open to see my nurse standing there. He walked towards me slowly, another needle in hand. I closed my eyes and waited for the prick and then the heat that would tell me that he had injected me with drugs once more. The warmth spread from the spot on my upper arm where he pressed the needle all the way throughout my entire body. It's always relaxing for about five minutes just before it turns ice cold and chills me to the bone.   
"Time to go for your final test, Tes." the nurse-I never learned his name- unlocked the wheels of the bed and rolled me out into the hallway. The slight breeze from the movement rolled up the sleeves of my hospital robe they had me in. Said breeze kicked started the cold sensation, beginning in the center of my chest, exploding outwards.   
Then it hit me... final test?   
I looked up towards the man, "what do you mean final test?" my teeth began to chatter.  
"It's your last day here. You'll be able to graduate and become the advanced Hydra agent they both need and want you to be." he smiled.  
"What?! No, this isn't something I'm doing willingly! No! They can't just turn someone into Hydra!" I tried to lift myself out of the bed but my body felt so heavy, like every part of me was turned into metal, rendering me unable to move.   
"Calm down, everything will be fine. You will feel so much better after your testing is done." I felt the bed jerk as he forced a pair of double doors open.   
"No." I whispered as tears slipped from the corners of my eyes, realizing my fate. I was going to become a mindless nub. I let out a quiet sob when the nurse rolled me up to a metal table with a rubber matt on top of it. I hadn't even noticed that we had turned into this room.   
Cold air brushed my already frozen, heavy legs as they tossed back the blankets. Three more nurses approach, all at the corners of my bed. They hoisted me up my shoulders and legs and transfered me to the metal table that I assumed would be my death bed. The table didn't feel cold, surprisingly-probably because I'm already freezing.  
"Nurse, please hand me the bite." A lady with platnum blonde hair handed the doctor behind me a black mouth guard, he aproached me, staring down, eyes squinting with a smile behind his mask, "I know that you do not want this to happen, I also know that you managed to figure out how to keep yourself alive using your chip and our archives after your first heroic escape from the main facility. Now, you won't have to worry about that anymore. You're going to be given electro-shock therapy in order to trigger and activate the second part of your implant. This implant, which we gave you when you first arrived here a week ago, is going to keep you from dying basically," I started to cry uncontrolably, "Should you die, theoretically, this implant will trigger and restart your heart. There is no garentee that it will work, however, and if your brain or heart are damaged, you will die. It will also counter thos little parts in your first implant that were killing you initially to do its actual job and, you know, not kill you."  
"Theoretically?" I choked.  
"It's never been tested out before now. You're the first with this technology." he smiled again.   
"This-this is wrong and not possible!" I shouted. he took that moment to shove the bite into my mouth, stopping any further cries of protest. I hadn't even noticed that the other nurses had managed to strap down my arms and legs to the table. The blond nurse reached over and brought a rubber strap down across my forehead, tightening it, making it impossible to move any further.   
"Tongs, please." he watched him move to stand at the top of my head, holding his hand up for the "tongs". The nurse handed him two metal rods about a foot long each, with some sort of fabric balls on the ends of them, "I'm sure you must know a little something about modern day shock therapy, how it's just to cause a minor seizure and muscle relaxers are used with general anaesthetic so on and so forth. This is not your case. It's a different wave, if you will, of electricity. You will feel all of it coursing through your body, it will be painful unlike normal shock treatments. You need this in order to jump start your new hardware."  
Adreneline shot through me immediately. I spat the mouth piece out and let out a shrill cry mixed with anger and fear. If this was going to happen, I wasn't going to make it easy. I pulled against the straps as much as my drugged body could manage.  
"Chin strap her please." he ordered. They did so. I fought them, screaming the entire time as one of the nurses helped the doctor forced my jaw to clench down on the piece and eventually strapped me there.   
"Sir, an unauthorized entry was made at the A-B entrance." One of the nurses said, looking away from a computer in the far corner. A glimmer of hope filled my adrenalized heart.   
"Call up front then," he looked at everyone else, "we may be out of time, let's do this now."   
"Yes, sir." the blond answered.   
"Clear for treatment." all of the other nurses backed away and waited, "five seconds, first shock."  
First shock?! He pressed the tips of fabric against my temples. It felt like fire had suddenly comsumed my body, I had no control as my vision went black and red-hot pain ignited across every part of my body. When he removed the source of the shock from my temples, I knew I was seizing. I couldn't feel or hear anything. I watched as images of Ezra filled my mind. How I missed my sister-the way she used to be. Ezra is gone now, she no longer plays a part in my life- as long as I can help it- the visions left me feeling hurt and sad. I was finally able to keep myslef from clenching any of my muscles anymore once my seizure stopped. I didn't realize that I would be able to register a seizure like that; my body ached from the strain.  
Opening my eyes, I saw a face, not the doctor's but of my friend...Bucky. Was he real? Could he be? Why is he here?   
"Tesla, open your eyes. I need you to focus so we can get you out of here." He unhooked my chin strap and began to free the rest of my body from the table. The world felt like it was moving in slow motion as I slowly tried to force my brain to wake up.  
Confusion formed on my features as I began to adjust to my surroundings. As he turned to begin unstrapping my legs, the blond nurse sat up from the floor with a gun pointed at Bucky. I froze with immediate fear of losing Bucky again. I thought about throwing myself down on top of her but I can barely open my eyes let alone move. He didn't hesitate as he kicked it from her hands and then kicked her square in the nose. She fell back to the floor unconscious.   
I tried to sit up but the medications still prevented me from moving with any kind of ease. Suddenly, a bullet ricoched off of Bucky's metal arm, hitting a light and caused it to flicker and spark rapidly. The shot had come from beneath the table, near my head. I turned to look down into the face of the doctor. He now held the electric prods again in each of his hands. I tried to roll bock to get away from what I knew was going to heppen but I was too slow. He pressed them firmly into my temples only for a second before all of the lights shot out and my mind went dark.   
I'm floating. The shock was so painful, my mind shut off and now I feel like I'm floating through nothing, completely weightless. It was pleasant, quiet. Staying here would be ideal but the logical part of me told me no,I have things to do some time soon, despite the fact that I just wanted to sleep forever.   
I was abruptly shaking. Where did this come from? It was so quiet, now there are loud noises everywhere and screaming.   
I cracked my eyes open to see Bucky, and the ceiling...the ceiling is moving at an incredible pace.  
"I got her!"  
"We need to leave, now, before there are more!"   
Who are these people who are talking? Where am I? The ceiling was suddenly no longer the dull color and florescent lights of the hospital, it's now an open lobby with large windows and a large glass looking staircase that we passed under.  
"Oh, Tesla, what did they do to you?" I shifted my head slightly to see red and gold staring me in the face.   
"Cap, here comes more!" Red eyes. Metal wings?  
"Hawkeye! Jet, now!" a woman's voice called.  
"Give her to me, I can get her out of here right now."   
I'm shifting again, this time onto cold hard metal, again.   
"P-please..." I mumbled, unable to form words. My head has never hurt so badly that I think I may be crying, I can't really tell.   
I was pulled tighter against the red and gold metal.  
"We are almost home, I promise. Close your eyes for a minute."   
I blacked out.  
000  
She's a lump, a limp pile of human in the bed. A large tube protruding from her lips while a mess of other cords and machines surrounded and peeped at her.  
"How's she doing?" Barton stood in the doorway, casually leaning against the frame.  
"She should be dead." Tony answered numbly, "That last shock damaged her brain, badly, it looks like." He picked up her hand again and began stroking her palm with his thumb.   
"You should go get some rest. It's my turn to watch her." Clint stepped forward into the room.   
"Her fingertips are burned. They burned her with electricity." Tony watched as Clint pulled up a chair and sat at the foot of her bed.  
"Tony, it's not your fault she left. Everyone was heated and things got out of control."  
"I'm her father. I should have tried to listen. I shouldn't have assumed." tears sprung into his eyes despite his attempt to fight them back.   
Clint sighed, "Please go rest on the couch, I'll watch her." He placed a hand on Tony's shoulder and gently pushed, urging him to move. Tony did so, dragging his feet across the room, slowly exiting. A few moments later Clint turned back to the sound of something sliding across the floor and found that Tony was pushing a couch into the room. Plopping down onto it, he turned and faced her bed, falling asleep shortly after.   
It was a light sleep, or so he thought. Tony woke to Banner sitting in the chair now, clipboard in hand.   
"How goes it?" Tony sat up and stretched a little.  
"Nothing. No good or bad progress. She's just stuck in this limbo seems like."  
"Why?" Bucky's voice chimed in before Tony could ask. Tony looked over to him: black t-shirt, hair pulled back into a pony tail. He didn't even look like he just fought 100+ men the day before. Tony on the other hand wore a wrinkled ACDC shirt and torn jeans. He hadn't eaten or showered since they got her back to the tower and in the "hospital".   
"On the x-rays, it looks like brain damage, but not normal damage you'd see from a shock victim. I can't pin-point anything useful without talking to her to test her motor functions. As you can see, that's not possible right now."   
"I called in a neurologist last night, he'll be here tomorrow." Tony said quietly to Bruce.   
Bucky nodded before he stepped up and took the open chair closest to her.  
"We need to find Ezra as soon as possible. Maybe she will know exactly what they did to her." Bucky leaned forward and let his hand graze the top of Tes'.   
"You want to go and find the one person responsible all of this? Ezra literally sold her sister to Hydra." Tony frowned, knowing that metal boy is right. They needed her to tell them what she could about Tesla's current predicament.   
"She's not going to make it." Bucky stated as a pang shot through his heart. He felt pure anger at the thought of seeing Ezra again, but they needed her.  
Tony was up in a second, in front of Bucky gripping his collar, Tony pulled their faces close, "Don't you fucking dare say that. She will make it. She will live because my blood runs threw her veins and I'm the most thick headed, stubborn person out there which means she is too. Bucky's eyes leveled and hardened as he stared into Tony's infuriated brown orbs, "if you're ready to give up, then you can get the hell out and I will stay here." Tony released his shirt and stormed back to the couch, sitting on the arm of it angrily.   
"Everything ok, gentelmen?" Nat stood in the doorway, a curious look on her face. She gave Bucky a side glance before looking at Tony questioningly.   
"Everything is fine." Tony answered coldly. Natasha quirked a brow before fully entering and standing next to Bucky, looking down at Tesla.   
"Tony, you need to eat." she suddenly turned to face him.  
"I'm fine." he answered quickly.  
"I was told by Pepper that is you didn't come willingly to get some food, then I had the right to use any force deemed necessary." She folded her arms and gave a smile, slightly cocking her head.   
Tony rolled his eyes and stood, knowing he wouldn't be able to fight the red-head off as tired as he is. Tony left, finding his way to the kitchen and eventually everyone else. Cap, and Banner sat up and gave questioning looks first.  
"The neurologist is on his way, should be here within the hour." Tony turned away from them to investigate the fridge.  
"That's not what we are asking. How is she?" Cap stood and approached the bar paralell the fridge.   
"There's nothing, all of her scans have blurs that make it impossible to tell what's what." Tony said as he placed a frozen breakfast bowl in the microwave. Everything was silent for a moment making the hum of the microwave the only thing filling the silence.  
Back in the room, Bucky sat close to Tesla, his head pressed into her shoulder. He had swiched to the other side of the bed so that he could rest his right hand on her forhead, softly gliding his thumb over the healing skin. He screamed at himself internally for letting this happen to her. He had made her a promise a long time ago to keep her out of harms way and now look at her. A mess in the bed that can't even breathe on her own.   
I need you to wake up. I need you to be ok, please, Tesla.  
She inhaled sharply, suddenly, her eyes flew open.   
"Tesla!" Bucky stood and placed his hands on the sides of her face, trying to calm her frantic breathing. She raised her arms and gripped the tube sticking out of her mouth, tugging and pulling it free before Bucky could stop her. She coughed and sputtered while trying to sit up.   
"Buck-Buck..." She trailed off as her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Bucky caught the back of her head as she went limp again.  
"JARVIS, get help in here, now!" a small drip of blood began to slip from her nose. He body began jerking angrily in his arms.   
Tony's bowl clattered to the floor when JARVIS alerted him to his daughter's awakening, He whipped into the room just as she gasped a choked sob against Bucky's chest.  
"Shhh, Tesla, it's ok. You're going to be fine." Bucky whispered into her ear.  
"Lay her down," Tony ordered. Bucky did so as Banner ran up.  
"She's seizing. There's nothing we can do for a seizure here. Tony, we need to get her to a hospital." Banner made eye contact with Tony. Then she stopped moving...and breathing.   
"Tesla." Tony grabbed her face and turned her to him. Her left eye was entirely blood shot and her nose mouth and chin now had a thorough coating of blood. Her eyes were staring at something unseen while her chest lowered once more before the continuous beep told them all of their greatest fears. Her body had given into the pain and struggle and now was completely relaxed. Tony's quiet sobs were the only other noise besides the machines whose alarms still sounded.   
They had to fight Tony to get him away from Tesla and into a different room in order to calm him.   
The world had ended, after all of the fights won and lives saved, none of it seemed to matter. She was such a big part of their lives and now she's dead. A cold lifeless piece of meat that lay bloodied in the bed. However, none of them knew the havoc that would ensue shortly.


End file.
